Let the morning come
by blooody.love
Summary: The story goes on after 2x22. Hook and Emma search for Henry in Neverland (along with Regina, Rumplestiltskin, Snow and Charming). But not only the promised enemy will be a problem, Hook and Rumplestiltskin also meet old friends... Short chapters, nice to read if you're in a hurry ;)
1. Chapter: Not as it looks like

**Chapter 1: Not as it looks like**

Emma stood on deck, watching the sea.

They were in Neverland. The most beautiful place Emma had ever seen.

It felt more like home than any place ever before. The feeling she belonged her came from nowhere, but it was there. Finally, Emma had the feeling to be home.

She heard footsteps behind her, so she turned around.

Hook was heading for her, having a smirk on his face. "Swan, the sea looks the same in every world, apparently. Why staring at it for much too long?"

She smiled and pointed towards the sky. "Have you looked at the sky? It's-"

"Beautiful?", he asked her while standing beside her and looking up to the sky. She nodded. "It's Neverland. Anything you see is moved by your imagination."

Emma furrowed her brow. "So, it's only illusion?"

Hook hestitated for a moment. "Yes and no. I can see the same you do, but at the same time I'm seeing something different because I want to."

Emma thought about that explanation for a while. "I guess I just don't get it."

Hook smiled to himself before he watched her. She did never notice whenever he was studying. Something about her changed over the last few hours. She was much more sober since they were in Neverland, like something had calmed her down. "Well, the fewest do. What do you know about Neverland?"

She looked at him and shrugged. "It's the home of the Lost Boys."

"Is it?", he replied sarcastically and raised an eyebrow.

She ignored him. "Well, according to the fairy tale, it's also the home of Peter Pan."

Hook's smile faded. "You know about Peter Pan in the real world?" Every trace of sarcasm was gone. Hook was absolutely serious, Emma confused.

"Yeah, he-"

"What do you know about him, Emma?", Hook interrupted her in a harsh voice. He grabbed for her arm. "Please, it's important.", he added.

"He, well, he was a hero. He gave abandoned children a new home, a reason to live, a reason to laugh and to hope.", she replied a little bit too genuine. Hook laid back his head slantingly and didn't say anything. _Abandoned children._ Emma. _Home. Live. Laugh. Hope._ She had believed this fairy tale. He could see that in her eyes. He wasn't able to destroy that now. A child was supposed to believe in such fairy tales, to find hope in such things. No, he couldn't tell her that Peter Pan wasn't a hero. Hook didn't want to. Didn't want to see how the gleam of hope in her eyes dies down.

He just nodded, not able to give a reply. Not yet.

Then he walked back into his cabin, not looking back.

Emma gazed after him. Sometimes this pirate was just weird.


	2. Chapter: Damned If I Do Ya

**Chapter 2: Damned if I do ya**

"SWAN!" Emma woke up to the sound of a yelling voice that sounded much like Hook. And it didn't sound amused.

She looked around and realized that she was in her cabin. _Okay, then, get up_, she told herself. She dressed in her favorite skinny jeans and a shirt that wasn't her own. It was black and a bit too large for her, but it would do it. They had left Storybrooke in a hurry, so she didn't have anything but her jeans, the white tank top that was pretty dirty after three days and her coat that she didn't need anymore because of the warm weather.

"SWAN!" There it was again. The annoying roar of the pirate.

Emma looked in the mirror that was opposite her bed and realized that her hair was a mess. Who cared? It was only Hook.

Emma ran her fingers through her hair until it looked decent.

"SWAN!" Would he ever get tired of shouting her name?

She took her sword - who knew what would happen? - and ran upstairs. Then she was on deck. But something changed: There was no water anymore, no sea. They were on shore.

Hook was on deck, talking to someone Emma didn't recognize. Her parents, Regina and Rumple were nowhere to be seen. Emma looked around, not sure what to do next.

"Swan?", Hook asked inviting when he spotted her. In that moment, his interlocutress turned around. Blonde, long hair. She was dressed in a (much too short) green dress that fitted her eyes perfectly. She fixed her gaze on Emma, much less inviting than Hook. Emma swallowed. She had an idea who this was. And she wanted to be wrong so badly.

Emma headed for them, still sure that this wasn't the best idea.

"Can I introduce you the best fairy that I ever got to work with?", Hook asked and pointed towards the woman with the unnatural long legs (what Emma just realized). "Emma, this is Tinker Bell."

Yup, she had been right.

Emma smiled at her, the fairy didn't smile back. "I'm sure you didn't get to work with many fairies." Emma answered.

Hook grinned. "She's gonna join us for a little while, lass? If that doesn't bother you."

"Why should it?", Emma asked a little bit too quickly.

"Just asking.", he replied.


	3. Chapter: Damned If I Don't

**Chapter 3: … Damned if I don't.**

While Emma was on the shore, figuring out where they had gotten, Hook was talking to Tinker Bell.

Tinker Bell had always been a strong-headed, but kind of arrogant woman. He liked her and at the same time he didn't.

He caught her keeping a wary eye on Emma. He concluded that she didn't like Emma from that venomous look. The green fitted her perfectly. Tinker Bell was a like a snake.

"You don't like her.", he said.

She looked at him, not very pleased. "And who told you so?"

He laughed. "I can tell that from your eyes. They always assume the same bilious green colour when something wouldn't turn out the way you want it to."

"If you say so. Might be the case that I just don't like her.", she replied stubbornly.

He nodded. "I thought so."

Tinker Bell looked over at him. "She's stubborn, and extremely self-confident. She tends to think that she's always right and she only fights for herself. She doesn't care what anyone thinks about her, and she tends to believe that she could hunt down everyone with her magic. She might have a pure heart, but she has not got any less evil blood in her veins than everyone else."

Hook thought about that, then he leaned towards her. There was only a short distance left. He spoke in a really low voice. "You might want to take a closer look at her. She's not the woman you think she is."

Hook turned around and left the ship. He spotted Emma under one of the trees. She was in its shadow, eyes closed.

She opened her eyes when she heard the gritting stones under his feet. He was standing in front of her and offered his hand to help her up. She accepted the offer. "Thank you."

"Well, lass, seems like you two get along with each other." He pointed towards Tinker Bell who was still standing on the ship and watching them talking.

"I imagined her differently.", Emma admitted without being responsive to his statement.

Hook looked confused. "She's been in your fairy tale, too?"

"Yup.", Emma answered. Eloquent as always.

Emma and Hook walked side-by-side back to the ship. "Where are the others? Mary Margaret, David, Gold, Regina? Have they gone anywhere?"

"Your parents are searching for another fairy in the forest." She didn't like the way he said your parents. Something about that felt wrong, but she needed to get used to this. "Rumplestiltskin is trying to find out where your lad's sojourn is. Neverland is a large world, it will take time to find him but I promise you that we're gonna find him." Whenever they were talking about Henry he had to remind her that he'd do anything to find him. They wouldn't give up until the day they'd get him back or die trying. "And Regina is still asleep. She needs the sleep to recharge her magic."

"Even your roar couldn't wake her up?", Emma joked.

"Apparently not.", he answered.

"What time is it?", Emma asked more serious now. I can't tell by the colour of the sky. It's been that way since we are here."

"This world doesn't have time. Time not matters at all. Youth and imagination, inevitable interwoven with one another. Nothing does matter here, not even time. Only the imagination and the reality. But never forget that one can't exist without each other. They need another to exist, but at the same time you can't have both." He looked at Emma insistently. "Never forget that, Swan. This world is real and at the same time it's not. You can't say something is real because it might be but at the same time it's not. Time isn't real, either. At least, not here. Be careful…"

A feminine voice over them interrupted him. "…or you're not going to survive this."

They both looked up. Tinker Bell was still on the ship, right over the place where Emma and Hook were standing.

"Don't you know it's bad manners to eavesdrop on people?", Emma asked annoyed.

Tinker Bell shrugged. "Maybe in your world, in our world it's necessary.", she replied in a very overbearing tone. Then she looked at Hook and smiled at him appealing. "You're going for a walk with me later?"

Emma swallowed her anger. _She_ was talking to Hook now, not Tinker Bell.

"Of course.", he replied and smiled back.

Suddenly, Emma felt an unexpected emotion. _No_, she told herself. _No._

"Swan?", asked a familiar rough voice.

She smiled at Hook artificially. "I'm gonna ask Gold if he found something that will help us.", she replied. Then she turned around and went back on the ship.

Hook watched her walking away.

"Look at that.", a voice over him called out.

He looked up at Tinker Bell.

"Seems like she might not want to join us for a walk. How does that come?", she added sarcastically.

Hook rolled his eyes. Instead of replying he followed Emma on the ship and left an angry fairy behind.


	4. Chapter: No, I have never been loved

**Chapter 4: No, I have never been loved.**

"Stupid pirate!", Emma muttered to herself.

She didn't even know why she was freaking out that much. He was just being his usual self. How could she have ever thought that he might care about her more than about others? Emma didn't even want to know how often he already smiled at Tinker Bell like he smiled at her. Tears suddenly flooded her eyes. She wiped them off.

She didn't intend to go to Rumplestiltskin now. She needed some time for herself. The reality - that everything she ever loved had been broken, everything she ever cared for had been taken away from her – hit her hard in that moment. Her parents, Neal, Graham, August, Henry.

Somehow she had been that stupid to think that Hook was different from those. That he would not leave her. That he wouldn't go on without a fight. That he would come back. But why?

"Stupid me!", she told herself silently. There was nothing between them, there would never be. She still couldn't believe how stupid she had been to think he'd care about her.

"Swan!", the voice - she absolutely did not want to hear now – called out her name. She ignored him and quickened her pace. If she made it to her cabin before he was able to overtake her she'd slam the door in his face.

She felt how he came closer, so tried to run faster than him. Yup, she ran now. She didn't walk anymore.

"Emma!", he called out softener. His voice was just a few metres away.

She knew now that she wouldn't make it to her cabin anymore.

Hook grabbed for her arm and turned her around.

She still had tears in her eyes he wasn't supposed to see. She looked down, not able to face him.

"Emma, look at me!", he said. His voice was different. It was too soften for a pirate. Like he cared.

_Like he cared_. Emma almost laughed about her own stupidity.

Since when did _she_ care so much? When had she become this vulnerable? When had she started hoping a pirate would care for her?

A pirate who sought revenge for the last _centuries_ because of a woman he loved. Never been able to love anyone else but _that _woman. Why did Emma think that this guy would care for her? For Emma? The girl that had never been wanted enough, needed enough or loved enough by anyone?

"Let go of me!", Emma demanded. Her voice sounded stronger than she would've expected it to.

Instead of that, Hook strenthened his grip and took one more step towards her.

"I told you to look at me.", he said in a low voice.

"And I don't want to." Stubborn as always. But he was able to catch something in her voice. Insecurity. No. It was more than that. Frustration. Anger. Sadness.

"Emma?", he asked sympathetic as possible.

She didn't react.

Hook relinquished his grip. Suddenly sure that he only needed one thing to do.

He took a step forward again. Careful. Hesitant. There wasn't any space between him and Emma left now. And then he just clasped her in his arms.

First she felt tense. But then… She lost it, all of the emotions she had held back over the last few days just came all at once and made her feel vulnerable and alone.

She leaned against his chest and started crying.

Hook stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, trying to calm her down.

He realized for the first time that this woman was strong for a reason.

Abandoned. Left alone. Orphan. On her own. Only looking out for herself. No love. No trust. No faith. No hope. At least not in front of other people.

But all of those things that happened to her didn't have an evil effect on her. Her heart was pure, her actions brave. She became a strong woman _because_ of all the things she'd gone through. But that had meant to hide her true face behind a wall.

In reality Emma had been alone, hurt, insecure, lost and lonely all her life.

He couldn't tell how long they were standing there. He just held her until her tears ran dry.

Then he escorted Emma to her cabin, just to make sure that she was fine. She needed some sleep. She laid down on her bed while Hook took a blanket and covered her.

She closed her eyes straightaway. Hook caressed her cheek until he was sure that she was asleep.

He studied her and a smile appeared on his face. He bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Then he took a few steps towards the door, unwilling to leave her. But he had to. He closed the door from the outside and went to his own cabin.


End file.
